We probably do not give much thought to Einstein’s saying, “Imagination is more important than knowledge,” other than that it was spoken by Einstein.

To us, knowledge is already gained wisdom and when you learn it you do so through reading, or perhaps you were taught by a teacher or through other means (we are using the word knowledge with the exclusion of inner knowledge here.) Either way, it does not require much effort on your part. You are told so and so; you understand it or not, but it’s always there.

However, imagination is a creative process.

It is a creation from nothingness to something, and it is not restricted by anything known before. You birth a novel idea into your conscious awareness that may have a significant impact to humanity. To use Einstein’s own words,

Imagination embraces the entire world, stimulating progress, giving birth to evolution.

Since Einstein was a master of imagination we may as well start with him to gain ideas as to where inspiration/imagination comes from.

Did you know that Einstein used imagination to come up with the theory of special relativity?

The special relativity states that the speed of light is a constant regardless of the speed of the observer. It doesn’t matter if you are inside a broken-down car or a rocket that goes 5 miles/second or some fancy blazing fast vehicle that only appears in sci-fi movies. When you observe light its speed remains the same. In other words, no matter your speed you will never catch up with light. Light travels at the same speed regardless of your speed. This phenomenon defies classic physics that we know of.

The theory also rocked our very understanding of time and space. It means that the time and space (distance) we use to measure speed is not absolute but depends on the observer. Time and space changes when you get to a really high speed; it’s no longer the same as when we perceive them at our “normal” state of being.

Our “normal” state of being is one narrow way to perceive, where time and space “appear” to be the way they are based on our observations at this mental state. Time and space are only illusions and they appear to us the way there are based on our state of being. Time and space, two parameters we have taken for granted are nothing but illusions. They’re pretty solid illusions, but illusions nonetheless.

How could Einstein come up with the then outlandish, and it still is to many people, theory of special relativity?

IMAGINATION

Einstein is famous for his ability of conducting “thought experiments”. In his Autobiographical Notes, he described a thought experiment he conducted at the age of 16 which was the seed for special relativity.

He imagined himself chasing a beam of light and pondered what would happen to his observation of the speed of light. There were many thought experiments Einstein conducted that eventually pushed our understanding of the physical universe to unimaginable depth. Unimaginable for the majority of us that is, but imaginable to Einstein.

Imagination is not the only thing that’s so mysterious, awe-inspiring and magical. Inspiration seems also unexplainable.

Loewi’s dream

Loewi is also known for the means by which the idea for his experiment came to him. On Easter 1921, he dreamed of an experiment that would prove once and for all that transmission of nerve impulses was chemical, not electrical. He woke up, scribbled the experiment onto a scrap of paper on his night-stand, and went back to sleep.

The next morning, he found, to his horror, that he couldn’t read his midnight scribbles. That day, he said, was the longest day of his life, as he could not remember his dream. That night, however, he had the same dream. This time, he immediately went to his lab to perform the experiment. From that point on, the consensus was that the Nobel Prize was not a matter of “if” but of “when.”

Thirteen years later, Loewi was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.

Source: Wikipedia

Kekulé’s dream

Loewi is not alone in getting inspirations from dreams that pushed science forward significantly. After years of studying the structure of carbon-carbon bonds, German Chemist Kekulé had a day-dream of a snake seizing its own tail and curled in a circular shape. This vision led him to the “discovery,” or inspiration of the ring shape of benzene molecule.

Dreams seem to be an interesting source of inspiration, and its role in science alone can never be overestimated. It is ironic that in a subject that places so much emphasis on evidence and logic would have dream as the source of inspiration…

However fascinating dreams are in bringing us inspirations in daily and professional lives, dream state is not required to tap into the source where imagination and inspiration spring from. In fact, a certain level of consciousness is a must, even with inspirations coming from the so-called dream states. There has to be a certain level of awareness, otherwise the dream would be forgotten.

Edison’s dreamy state of mind

Besides Einstein, Edison is also known for relying on half-asleep moments to come up with big ideas. Having reportedly slept four to five hours per night, Edison’s mind was primed for problem solving and receiving inspirations in his half-dreamy, half-asleep states. It is interesting that the person who invented the light bulb never wanted to turn it off, for a good reason. Edison was tapping into the state of mind where inspirations could reach him.

The mysterious and magical inspiration/imagination/intuition such as those cited above made people believe that only certain people, the lucky selected few, can tap into the higher information source and make breakthrough discoveries. Such speculations led to The heroic theory of invention and scientific development. It is the hypothesis that the principal authors of inventions and scientific discoveries are unique heroic individuals – “great scientists” or “geniuses.” However, it is far from truth. It is the other way around actually, that people who can use their mind creatively and tap into higher sources of information become the “heroes”, “great scientists” or “geniuses”.

The phenomenon of inspiration/imagination/intuition is far from limited to the field of invention and scientific development, it is permeated in all aspects of life. I would not be doing justice if I only focus on science and discoveries, because inspiration/imagination/intuition is indeed everywhere.

Jonathan Livingston Seagull

In the book The Nature of Personal Realities, a book written by a higher spirit called Seth channeled by Jane Roberts, it mentioned how Richard Bach wrote his best-selling book Jonathan Livingston Seagull.

One day Richard heard an inner voice dictating the story of Jonathan Livingston Seagull. He wrote it down as the voice dictated. However, half way through the book the inner dictation stopped, and it didn’t return until 8 years later, which enabled Richard to finish the book. It became a surprising hit in the history of publishing.

The information clearly came from a higher source. But where did it come from?
Can anyone tap into that?
How will it change your life if you could do it as well?

Conversations with God

This is another wildly successful book. In fact, it is a series of books, written by Neale Donald Walsch, where he asked questions and God answered. Prior to writing the first book, Neale was a homeless person. After the first book was published, it stayed on the best seller list for 137 weeks straight and it changed Walsch’s life forever.

In an interview with Larry King, Walsch described the inception of the books as follows. At a low period in his life, Walsch wrote an angry letter to God asking questions about why his life wasn’t working. After writing down all of his questions, he heard a voice over his right shoulder say, “Do you really want an answer to all these questions or are you just venting?” Though when he turned around he saw no one there, Walsch felt answers to his questions filling his mind and decided to write them down. The ensuing dialogue became the Conversations with God books. When asked in an interview about how does he “open up” to God these days, Neale stated, “I am reaching out to touch others with this information. When I reach out and touch others with this information I reconnect immediately with the divine presence.”

Source: Wikipedia

There are many other books written from higher sources, such as A Course in Miracles, The Law of One, Abraham Hicks books, etc. Like the scientific field, the publishing world is filled with stories of inspiration/imagination/intuition with information coming from the divine sources, even for authors who do not clearly “channel” books. Again, to add on what I said earlier, the phenomenon is not limited to invention, science, and publishing but it permeates in all areas of life.

Akiane Kramarik’s paintings

Kramarik is an American artist and poet. She started drawing at the age of 4 after seeing visions of God and was encouraged to draw. She “saw” a higher reality beyond the physical.

Religious art of sculptures, reliefs and paintings in one of the parochial schools I attended greatly influenced my later attraction to legendary figures. For the first time I got to encounter the world’s view of what divinity was supposed to be, but deep down I felt that I perceived everything in a much broader and deeper sense. It appeared to me as if most people were completely ignorant of other realities, or that the realities they perceived were seen only from a very narrow angle.

At the age of 10, Kramarik appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show. At the age of 12, she appeared on CNN. Her paintings sold millions.

Source: Wikipedia

Also, at a young age she started to “write” poetry. Beautiful verses came to her effortlessly, with words she could not consciously comprehend.

Music, dance, paintings, other forms of arts, and all the other creative processes are filled with stories of the influence of inspiration/imagination/intuition.

Have you seen dancers dance elegantly, immersed in their own movements? In those moments they are bringing higher information and translate it to their bodily movements.

Have you seen musicians perform their favorite piece of music, totally lost in their own thoughts? In those moments they are bringing higher information and express it through an instrument.

Have you seen artists paining, sculpting, or engaging themselves in their chosen profession? In those moments they are bringing higher information and decipher it through their chosen form of art.

Have you seen writers, actors, scientists, doctors, etc., deep in thought and forgetting everything around them? They are tuning into a higher source to bring out information that we term inspiration/imagination/intuition.

Where is the higher source?

Can anyone tune into it?

How can you do it and benefit your life?

The higher source of information is permeating all around us. Some call it higher dimensions, some call it higher consciousness, some call it the other side, some call it Akasha, some call it divine intervention, etc. It really doesn’t matter what you call it, and don’t get entangled by the wordplay.

The information is always there, just as magnetic waves are all around us, unseen. Just as radios dialed into the right frequencies can receive messages from that particular channel, when you tune into higher frequencies you can receive divine messages. And the way to tune in is through your meditative state of mind. It is an innate ability that everyone possesses. Some people use it unconsciously and appears “lucky” or “genius”, while others open up through deliberate training and practicing such as Napoleon Hill. No matter what you do, the process can be called channeling.

You open up the channel, set up the bridge, the gateway, tune in to the frequency to become a receiver of higher information. It involves a meditative state of mind. Get into a meditative state of mind regularly to enhance your sensitivity to information coming from higher source.

If you were to live life to the fullest and following your life’s purpose with clear divine guidance, meditation is not an option but a must. You may not use the word meditation but that doesn’t matter. You will be able to tap into the source of inspiration/imagination/intuition and make your life magical.